


cross your heart (hope to die)

by mullethyuck



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: (well. mostly an accident), Accidental Death, Alternate Universe - College/University, Blood and Injury, Brotherly Love, Dark Magic, M/M, Major Character Undeath, Murder, Spells & Enchantments, and a tiny bit of vomiting, copious amounts of idiocy on all sides
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28607922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mullethyuck/pseuds/mullethyuck
Summary: It's not that Donghyuck has a problem with Johnny―he just has a problem with Johnny dating his big brother.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee, with a side of johnmark and nomin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 62





	cross your heart (hope to die)

**Author's Note:**

> i made a [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6WIEroQKxYelwbYBWRLPkv?si=hfitevRzQMq7koKe20Ctng) that got me in the mood to write more human sacrifice, and this isn't exactly that but it's close enough lmao

Donghyuck is sprawled across his boyfriend’s lap as Jaehyun runs a distracted hand through Donghyuck’s hair, combing through a particularly stubborn knot with his nimble fingers. This is the longest Donghyuck’s hair has been since they met, and Jaehyun doesn’t bother hiding how much he likes it. Donghyuck doesn’t hide how much he enjoys the attention, either, nuzzling into Jaehyun every time his hand stills when he gets too immersed in his work and stops doting on him.

Eventually, Jaehyun gives up. He shuts his laptop where it sits on the coffee table and tosses his notebook next to it haphazardly, abandoning his valiant efforts at transcribing notes for tomorrow’s lecture. Donghyuck preens and throws a leg over Jaehyun’s lap, trapping Jaehyun in his arms with a vice grip. Jaehyun kisses the top of his head, where his hair is sticking out in a million different directions around the hand still tangled in it.

And Jaehyun is a lot of things, but he isn’t totally oblivious. He knows his boyfriend, and he knows that Donghyuck will never bring it up unless Jaehyun initiates it. “What’s on your mind, baby?” he mumbles against the crown of Donghyuck’s head.

Donghyuck hums. “What makes you think there’s anything on my mind?”

“You’re being clingy,” Jaehyun points out. Donghyuck just cocks an eyebrow at him. “Clingier than usual,” he amends. “You’re only _this_ bad when something’s bothering you.” He presses a kiss to Donghyuck’s temple. “Let me in, gorgeous.”

Donghyuck exhales like he’s been holding his breath waiting for Jaehyun to ask. “It’s Mark,” is all he says.

“Mark?” Jaehyun parrots. Donghyuck saw his brother only a couple days ago when he went home for the weekend; if anything had happened then, Donghyuck would’ve told him by now. “Is everything okay?”

Donghyuck sits up abruptly, straddling Jaehyun’s lap to look him in the eyes. His hair is an absolute bird’s nest, and the stretched out collar of his t-shirt is hanging lopsided over his collarbone, and he’s wearing the slightest pout as he braces himself for whatever he’s about to say next. He’s beautiful. Jaehyun’s hands move to rest on his hips instinctively. “He’s got a boyfriend.”

Jaehyun expects Donghyuck to go on, but he doesn’t. He just leans forward to rest his forehead on Jaehyun’s shoulder and sighs again. “Do you not like the guy?” he tries, even though he gets the sense that Donghyuck himself isn’t sure what the problem is.

He’s right, if Donghyuck’s answering groan is anything to go by. “Johnny’s fine,” he mumbles into Jaehyun’s hoodie. “I just...I dunno if he’s right for Mark.”

Jaehyun shrugs his shoulder lightly so Donghyuck will look at him. “Hey, Hyuck. You know Mark won’t like, ditch you for his boyfriend, right?” They’ve had this talk before―Mark tends to have a one track mind. Jaehyun doubts he even realizes how much his little brother idolizes him.

“I know,” Donghyuck says without conviction. “But, like, you know what happened with Lucas…” He trails off, but he doesn’t need to finish. Mark had cancelled on Donghyuck to hang out with his boyfriend one too many times to leave Donghyuck unaffected, and it stuck. He’s always been sensitive, even if he won’t admit it.

Jaehyun cups Donghyuck’s cheeks in his hands, pinky fingers framing his jaw. “Baby, listen. Mark loves you. He would never leave you out on purpose.” He kisses the tip of Donghyuck’s nose, which earns him a tiny smile.

“I know, I know,” Donghyuck repeats, reaching up to pull Jaehyun’s hands from his face, lacing their fingers together as they fall into his lap. “I just wish he didn’t leave me out like, at all.”

“Tell him that, then,” Jaehyun offers. “You know he’d listen to you if you told him how you feel.”

Donghyuck shakes his head a little, just once, and Jaehyun knows he’s done being vulnerable for the time being. “I’ll figure it out.”

* * *

Three days later, Donghyuck is sitting shotgun in Jaehyun’s trusty old Camry eating greasy french fries and blasting shitty pop music through the aux cord when he has the biggest epiphany of his life so far. Or so he says, anyway.

“And what’s your brilliant idea?” Jaehyun asks, because Donghyuck’s mind will always amaze him.

Donghyuck steals a sip of Jaehyun’s drink and pauses Justin Bieber’s crooning so he can lay out his plan. “Okay, so hear me out.” That’s never a good sign, but Jaehyun lets him go on anyway because he is so weak for the way Donghyuck’s tongue darts out over his bottom lip in concentration. “What if we hexed Johnny?”

Jaehyun blinks at him from his spot behind the wheel. The light turns green, and it takes a solid five seconds for him to react. He has a lot of questions, but he starts with the most pressing issue. “For what reason, exactly?”

Donghyuck looks at him like he’s dense. A lot of times he is, but Jaehyun thinks his confusion is warranted in this case. “So Mark will break up with him.”

Again, Jaehyun has about a billion potential responses to that. He could say, _I don’t think there’s a spell for that._ He should say, _I think you should stay out of your brother’s love life because it’s getting a little codependent._ What he actually says is, “Hyuck, you can’t even read those tarot cards I got you for your birthday. How are you gonna hex someone?”

Donghyuck pouts around a mouthful of fries, but at least he has the decency to swallow before he starts off pitching his genius plan. “Nothing big, babe. Just like, make his armpits perpetually smelly, or give him a hairy ass, or something. Y’know, like, an undateable offense, but something that won’t totally ruin his life. Or cause a nasty breakup,” he adds helpfully.

Jaehyun pulls into the parking lot of his dorm building, finding an empty spot before cutting the gas and turning to face Donghyuck. “You do realize that even if you pull this off, and even if Mark breaks up with Johnny―and those are both big _ifs,_ by the way―Mark will eventually date someone else. You can’t just curse anyone who fights you for your brother’s attention.”

Donghyuck cocks his head to the side like he’s seriously considering Jaehyun’s words. “Can’t I?”

“No, you cannot,” Jaehyun says flatly. Donghyuck smirks, lips curling like a threat, and Jaehyun is already telepathically apologizing to Mark for what he knows he’ll inevitably help Donghyuck do.

“Not with that attitude!” Donghyuck says way too cheerily for the circumstances, and hops out the car.

Jaehyun follows, tossing the french fry bag into the trash on the way in, and Donghyuck doesn’t say anything else for the two-storey elevator ride, opting to link their pinkies together loosely in comfortable silence. It isn’t until they’re safe inside the sparse sitting area of Jaehyun’s suite that he drops Jaehyun’s hand and whips out a thick book Jaehyun’s never seen before. It looks ancient―worn cover, frayed pages, golden ink on the spine half-faded. Jaehyun can’t even make out the title, but he isn’t entirely sure he wants to know what sort of lore Donghyuck has managed to get his hands on, anyway.

Donghyuck drags Jaehyun into his room, closing the door behind them and tossing the book onto Jaehyun’s bed. It lands with an unimpressive _whump,_ looking entirely out of place among Jaehyun’s physics notes where he’d dropped them last night and hadn’t bothered to clean up since. Donghyuck takes a step back, as if waiting for Jaehyun to ask for direction.

He states the obvious, instead. “You already found a spell, didn’t you?”

Donghyuck beams as he nods, fluffy hair bouncing into his eyes. Jaehyun resists the urge to brush it back off his forehead. “Yep.” He pops the _p,_ and Jaehyun knows there’s more coming. Donghyuck closes the distance between them, sliding his arms around Jaehyun’s neck, rubbing their noses together. “But it’s a two person job. You’ll help me, won’t you, babe?”

Jaehyun is so, so fucked. _Sorry, Mark._

* * *

“Y’know, when you said this was a two person job, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.” Jaehyun grunts, shifting the weight in his arms so he can fumble around for his keys. He gets the car unlocked several excruciating seconds later, pulling the door open and leaning against it for some support. Donghyuck is all but sitting on the side of the car, brow furrowed as he tries to work out their next move.

“I think we can fit him,” Donghyuck says after a moment of deliberation. He stands upright, shuffling his arms so the crook of his elbows are hooked under Johnny’s armpits. “You go first.”

Jaehyun nods, studying the cramped backseat of his car. He isn’t so sure about this, but they don’t really have any other options, either, and they’re running out of time. He kicks a stray beanie out of the way before hoisting Johnny’s legs up, grip tight on his ankles, and all but throws him across the seat. It works, but Jaehyun can’t disentangle himself fast enough, and tumbles in with him. Donghyuck nearly falls over with the force of it, straining under Jaehyun’s added weight.

Jaehyun curses under his breath as he extracts himself from underneath Johnny’s lower half, crawling out of the car and trying to look nonchalant when a random jogger passes by. Donghyuck, for his part, starts shoving the rest of Johnny into the car with alarming force, effectively ruining any semblance of normalcy achieved by Jaehyun’s amiable bro nod. Jaehyun just accepts the fact that being inconspicuous has never been his boyfriend’s forte and helps him cram Johnny onto the seat.

It only takes a few more minutes, a lot of willpower and a good shove to Johnny’s head while Donghyuck slams the door shut for them to finish the job. Jaehyun climbs in, starts the car, and flees the scene as quickly as possible without literally peeling out onto the road and drawing more unwanted attention. Donghyuck rolls the window down, sticking his hand out and letting it coast on the breeze.

“Did you have to knock him out?” Jaehyun asks after he can finally breathe again. Kidnapping is exhausting work, apparently.

Donghyuck just blinks at him. “Yeah.” The wicked smile that finds its way onto his lips unbidden is a sure sign that it was more an act of personal vengeance than that of necessity. Jaehyun doesn’t argue the point.

“So what now?” he prompts instead. Donghyuck told him the plan a few days ago, but he failed to mention specifics. Either that, or he purposefully omitted them.

“The hardest part’s over,” Donghyuck reassures him, reaching over to weave his fingers between Jaehyun’s where his hand sits on the gear shift. “Once we get back to your room, I’ll do a little dark magic, we’ll make sure it kicks in, then we drop him back off where we found him. In and out.”

Jaehyun rubs his thumb over Donghyuck’s knuckles, drawing little hearts on the familiar skin. “If you say so, baby.” 

Donghyuck just pulls Jaehyun’s hand to his lips, pressing feather light kisses to the veins under his skin.

* * *

As with most of Donghyuck’s plans, it isn’t as simple as he makes it sound.

After fifteen minutes of driving, at least twenty more of manhandling Johnny out of the car and upstairs, and a lot of Latin that Jaehyun understands none of, Donghyuck declares their work to be done. He steps back from where they dumped Johnny onto Jaehyun’s bed, dusting his hands off as if to rid himself of this problem forever and looking altogether pleased with himself. Johnny still hasn’t woken up, and there’s a trickle of red running down into his eyebrow from where Jaehyun accidentally smacked his head on the doorframe on the way in. Between that and the gash Donghyuck cut across his palm as part of the spell, Johnny is looking a little worse for wear. Jaehyun wonders what they’ll do if he wakes up before they bring him back home.

Only Johnny doesn’t wake up. He lays there limp on Jaehyun’s bed for hours―long enough for Jaehyun to get nervous and Donghyuck to double, then triple, check the spell he used for any sort of guideline on how long it takes for the effects to manifest. He finds none, so they wait. And wait. And wait.

It’s nearly midnight when something dawns on Jaehyun. “Baby,” he says, nudging Donghyuck where he’s curled up on the couch eating instant ramen he raided from one of Jaehyun’s suitemates’ corners of the pantry. “Is he...like.” He inhales slowly and tries again. “Did we―Are you sure he’s alive?” He whispers it, afraid to say it too loud in case somebody hears even though they’re alone. The dorm walls are notoriously thin.

Donghyuck drops his chopsticks, mouth hanging open in a little O of surprise. “Yeah, he’s alive,” he says, but his eyes dart to the bedroom door as his voice cracks. They’re both off the couch and scrambling into Jaehyun’s room in record time, hovering over the bed where Johnny is slowly sliding off the comforter. Dead weight.

Donghyuck presses a finger to Johnny’s neck, right over the jugular. He feels around a bit, searching, then furrows his brow. He shoots Jaehyun a look, biting his lip, and it isn’t reassuring. Jaehyun steps up beside him to check for himself, anyway. He touches the other side of Johnny’s throat, and the skin is cold. He doesn’t find a heartbeat, no matter how hard he pushes into the vein.

Jaehyun and Donghyuck share a look of understanding, the realization of what they’ve done hitting them at the same time. Donghyuck takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly, blowing his bangs up off his forehead. “Well, shit.”

Jaehyun mirrors the sentiment. “Yeah,” he mumbles, looking down at Johnny’s paling face. “Shit.”

* * *

Donghyuck isn’t really sure what went wrong the first time, but he’s adamant that he can fix it. Jaehyun isn’t particularly inclined to believe him, but his ungrounded faith in Donghyuck is somehow limitless and they don’t have any other options. Well, they have one other option.

“Jaemin!” Donghyuck croons at his phone where he’s holding it out so Jaehyun can hear the other end of the conversation on speaker. “Long time, no talk. How you been? How’s Jeno?”

“Cut the shit, Hyuck.” Jaemin’s voice comes tinny through the line. “What did you do?”

Jaehyun snickers as Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “Nothing really. Just a little murder, is all.”

Jaemin sighs, breath crackling through the tiny speakers. “How? If you used one of my spells, I need to know which one.” He’s weirdly calm about the whole situation―methodical. It makes Jaehyun wonder what other messes he’s had to clean up. He figures it’s better if he never finds out.

“Uh,” Donghyuck says intelligently. “Lemme find it.” He sets his phone on Jaehyun’s desk, rummaging around the room for the discarded spell book.

“So you couldn’t stop him, Jae?” He should’ve known Jaemin would assume he was listening. Jaemin sounds mildly amused, and otherwise unbothered. He’s taking this all in stride, at least; Jaehyun isn’t sure he can say the same for himself.

“Nah. You know how he is when he makes his mind up. Very convincing.” He shrugs, even though Jaemin can’t see it. “But how is Jeno, by the way? Hyuck’s right, it’s been too long.”

Jaemin hums on the other end of the line. “He’s good. Adopted another stray, she’s _so_ cute. Y’all need to come meet her soon, oh my god, he’ll be thrilled to have new victims to subject to his billions of new cat pictures.” He huffs out a fond laugh, and Jaehyun can’t help but smile.

“As long as you cook us dinner,” he counters agreeably.

“Only if you make dessert,” Jaemin retaliates, and Jaehyun can practically see one of his perfect eyebrows arch in expectation.

“Okay, deal,” Jaehyun concedes right as Donghyuck pops out from behind his bed and all but yells, “I found it!”

“What spell was it?” Jaemin asks, attention directed back to the task at hand. Donghyuck rattles off some long Latin phrase and Jaemin mumbles unintelligibly under his breath. That’s not a great sign, but at least he follows it with a, “It’s hard to reverse, but not impossible. Listen carefully.”

The next ten minutes are spent with Jaemin reciting a lengthy retraction spell while Donghyuck scribbles it onto a scrap piece of paper he ripped from Jaehyun’s nearest notebook, complete with a lot of pausing and inquiries about the spelling of archaic Latin words. It’s a tedious process, but by the end of it, even Jaehyun thinks he could recite the whole thing on the spot. It bodes well for the outcome, or so Jaehyun tells himself. Jaemin’s a very capable teacher even over the phone, and Donghyuck is smart and catches on fast. And besides, Johnny’s already dead. It can’t possibly get any worse.

“One last thing,” Jaemin says before Donghyuck can hang up. “Be careful, Hyuck. You don’t know what Johnny will be like when he comes back. Nothing is ever the same the second time around―like live action remakes, or reheated leftovers.” Then the line goes dead.

Donghyuck doesn’t even give Jaehyun time to process Jaemin’s warning before he’s walking over to where Johnny is still lying in a heap on the mattress and reciting the new spell. Nothing happens for the first few rounds; it isn’t until halfway through the third repetition that Johnny’s pinky twitches. Donghyuck turns toward Jaehyun with wide eyes, finishing off the spell and taking a step back to hold onto Jaehyun’s hand for dear life.

Johnny’s chest rises once, then falls. His next breath comes nearly a minute later, and Donghyuck and Jaehyun inhale with him, unaware they’d even held their breath to begin with. Johnny’s chest stutters, breathing uneven, and it barely levels out before he’s shooting upright, sitting on the edge of Jaehyun’s bed and staring them straight in the face. He looks like shit. The bags underneath his eyes are bruised, purple skin matching the spidery veins that line his arms and neck. His hair is comically unkempt, and the blood is still crusty on his forehead. His palm probably looks even grosser.

None of them say anything for a long time. Johnny’s eyes are flat, lack the depth they used to hold, but they’re piercing all the same. Jaehyun can’t tell if that’s a bad sign or not.

Surprisingly, it’s Johnny who breaks the silence. “Why the fuck do I feel like―”

He cuts himself off, leaning forward and emptying his stomach right onto Jaehyun’s carpet.

“Dude. Not cool,” is all Jaehyun says as he grabs a towel from the closet and starts halfheartedly scrubbing at the mess with his foot, but he figures that’s kind of unfair. It’s partially his fault Johnny’s got a death hangover, so maybe this is just karma. It still sucks that he’s not getting his security deposit back, though.

Johnny doesn’t seem to notice or care about the monetary repercussions of his actions. He just props his elbows on his knees, cradling his head in his hands and groaning about how he thinks he might be dying, his head hurts so bad. If only he knew the irony of all his complaining. Jaehyun doesn’t tell him―not yet.

Neither does Donghyuck, but he does offer Johnny a half empty water bottle and a pat on the shoulder. “Get hydrated, big guy. We have a lot to talk about.”

* * *

All things considered, Mark takes it pretty well.

Obviously Donghyuck doesn’t tell him that he accidentally killed his boyfriend. Obviously Johnny doesn’t tell him about the side effects of coming back from the dead. Obviously Jaehyun acts like he’s fine with paying to replace the carpet in his room as reparation for their crimes. They all have their secrets.

But Johnny is undeniably different, so of course Mark notices. The official story is that Donghyuck wanted to spend time with Johnny in some weird hazing ritual (not a complete lie), and they smoked a little too much and had a minor accident and Johnny now has a rare form of brain damage that Mark “really shouldn’t worry about but maybe be a little gentle with him for the foreseeable future.” Mark squints suspiciously at Donghyuck when he explains the circumstances, but he doesn’t call him on his bluff. Mark’s known Donghyuck his whole life; he knows better than to question his little brother. After twenty years, he’s learned that whatever Donghyuck is hiding is probably better off staying hidden. And in this case especially, he’s right.

Jaehyun is only there for moral support, but he takes his job very seriously. “I’m proud of you, baby,” he says when they’re on the road back to his dorm. Johnny is apparently a _lot_ more into PDA post-death than he was before he kicked the bucket. Donghyuck had cut their lunch date short to save himself the trauma of being subjected to any more of Johnny’s canoodling with his brother.

“For what?” he asks, hand sticking out the window. His fingers flutter with the force of the wind as they cruise down the highway.

“For a lot of things,” Jaehyun says truthfully. “But right now, I’m proud of you for talking to Mark.”

Donghyuck blushes all the way down to the collar of his sweatshirt. “Thanks,” he says quietly―sincerely. It had been hard enough to address the issue of Johnny’s sudden change in demeanor without the added difficulty of Donghyuck’s complicated feelings about their relationship. Donghyuck had only mentioned that he didn’t want Mark to forget about spending time with him, but it was a big step for Donghyuck, in its own way.

Jaehyun beams at him from behind his sunglasses, dimples on full display. He holds their intertwined hands up to pepper kisses across Donghyuck’s knuckles and his lips ghost against Donghyuck’s skin as he says, “Anytime, gorgeous.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first time posting jaehyuck (and johnmark actually!) what a way to kick it off <3
> 
> anyway let's be [moots](https://twitter.com/mullethyuck) i need more johnjaemarkhyuck in my life in every capacity tbh


End file.
